Announcing the 2018-2019 Service/Research Projects
The University Scholars Program and the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships are pleased to announce the recipients of the Service/Research Project Awards (now the Bridge-Builder Award) for the 2018-2019 academic year. The Service/Research Project Awards invite groups of undergraduates to propose service projects that are informed by academic research, and that include a plan for researching the efficacy of their group’s service work. The projects require participating students to work in close collaboration with community partners in the Boston area.
The following projects will be supported by the University Scholars Program and the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships during the 2018-2019 academic year:
Bits & Bots
Project Leaders: John Harrington, COE; Daniel Rassaby, CCIS
Bits & Bots provides an after-school education program for elementary and middle school students. The focus of this program is computer programming and robotics. In the fall, group members will focus on research and curriculum development; in the spring, they will resume offering classes to students.
DREAM Program
Project Leaders: Derick Anderson, CCSI; Elisa Figueras, COS; Riddhi Samtani, CSSH
This project group partners with the DREAM Program, an organization that pairs college student mentors with grade-school children to help these children achieve their goals. Group members will assist the organization with its efforts to assess its operations in the Boston area.
EcoScholars Program
Project Leaders: Ava Gallo, CSSH; Ryan Maia, CSSH; Abby Plummer, CSSH; Sydney Yonack, CSSH
The EcoScholars Program seeks to offer environmental education lessons to K-12 students in the Boston area. These lessons focus on climate change, its implications for the planet’s future, and everyday actions that can be taken to reduce one’s “ecological footprint.”
The Flo Initiative
Project Leaders: Eloise Coly, DMSB; Danielle Reid, CAMD; Erin Sedita, CSSH
The Flo Initiative seeks to combat social stigmas associated with menstruation and to provide low-income individuals in the Boston area with information regarding, and access to, more sustainable menstrual hygiene products.
Greener Lunches
Project Leaders: Amanda Barr, CSSH; Elise Dovletoglou, COS
This project aims to help Boston Public Schools provide more nutritious and sustainable school lunches for students. It advocates for plant-based foods and the implementation of more vegetarian options in BPS cafeterias.
Husky High School Hacks
Project Leaders: Logan Jones, COS; Sydney Mason, COS; Luke Novak, CCIS
Husky High School Hacks aims to develop and stage a series of “hackathons” for high school students in the Boston area. Defined by the project group as “short events that pose students with challenges that they can form groups to solve,” these “hackathons” are intended to promote collaborative and engaged learning.
Malaria Free World
Project Leaders: Francesca Giorgianni, CSSH; Adriell Louis, COS; Hugh Shirley, COS; Kritika Singh, COE; Stephanie Stumbur, Bouvé
This project group works with the non-profit Malaria Free World, which seeks to promote awareness of malaria and other infectious diseases. The group also developed and promoted the Northeastern University Global Health Initiative (NUGHI) conference, which took place October 19-20, 2018 on the Northeastern campus.
The Playground Project: INDIGO
Project Leaders: Charles Chierico, COE; Elise Dovletoglou, COS; Daniel Ostberg, COE
This project group strives to increase the number and quality of inclusive playgrounds in Boston. Its members have developed a “scorecard” that they use to assess the inclusivity of individual playgrounds; they have now evaluated approximately 70 percent of the playgrounds in Boston using this tool.
Project FIT
Project Leaders: Danielle Murad Waiss, CSSH; Agota Sakalauskaite, DMSB; Cindy Wu, Bouvé
The members of Project FIT teach group fitness courses at various assisted living residences in the Boston area. These courses aim to promote not only physical activity, but also social connections and emotional well-being.
Roots Through Photos
Project Leader: Leila Habib, COS
Roots Through Photos seeks to develop and implement photography workshops for youth in the Boston area. Participants in these workshops will be invited to explore issues related to identity and community through the medium of photography.
Roxbury Rocks!
Project Leaders: Lucas Calero Forero, CCIS; Paulina DeLima, COE; Niklas Pousette-Harger, CCIS; Jacqueline Tam, Bouvé
Roxbury Rocks! develops and teaches music and dance courses for children in the Roxbury area. This year, members will focus on revising the group’s lessons to encompass music from a wider range of cultural traditions.
Science Squad
Project Leaders: Congtin Nguyen, COE; Maria Paz, Bouvé
The Science Squad focuses on getting children and adolescents excited about science. The group volunteers in the science department at a local secondary school and at science fairs around Boston; they also teach experimentation classes via Northeastern’s NEPTUN program.
SPLC at Northeastern
Project Leaders: Matthew Cueto, DMSB; Gabriel Morris, CSSH; Kamran Parsa, CSSH; Jasmine Williams, DMSB
This project group teaches a civil rights and social justice curriculum to youth groups and in after-school programs in the Boston area. This curriculum is grounded in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Teaching Tolerance” framework.
STEMVentures
Project Leaders: Orianna Kane, COE; Anjali Kokra, COE; Cory Langenbach, COE; Matthew Lamontagne, CSSH
This project group leads extracurricular STEM programs for children in the Boston area. It has a well-established relationship with a local K-8 school, and will begin offering additional courses at a public library this academic year.